Emmarie Becker found a new way to help the Ankeny Centennial girls’ soccer team on a rainy Tuesday night.
After scoring the tying goal in the 72nd minute, the junior midfielder eventually moved to the goalkeeper position during a shootout and came up with a crucial save as the third-ranked Jaguars defeated No. 6 Johnston, 3-2, in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the Lied Recreation Fields in Ames.
“Oh my gosh, I have no words right now,” said Becker. “I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it. It’s crazy.”
Becker put on the yellow keeper’s jersey after the second overtime period ended. She took the Jaguars’ first penalty kick and missed it, but then made a save on Johnston’s ensuing attempt.
Maddison Balashaitis scored on Centennial’s next try. Piper Zeman and Madeline Stribe made the Jaguars’ following two attempts.
“We practice them,” Balashaitis said. “You’ve just got to do your thing, show up, and do what you do every day.”
Centennial held a 3-1 lead in the shootout before Halle Howe scored for the Dragons. After the Jaguars missed a potential game-winner on their fifth attempt, Johnston tied it on a goal by Chloe Liang.
Centennial regained a 4-3 advantage when Mady Postma’s kick went just under the crossbar and into the net. The game then ended when the Dragons’ next attempt by Jaslynn Long sailed over the bar.
“We probably deserved a tough game like that,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen, whose team had fought the Dragons to a 1-1 tie on May 13. “Hat’s off to Johnston–they battled and made us chase the game. What a resilient group (we have) to find a way back in and to figure it out in PKs.”
Over the last few weeks, Becker has been training for the penalty kicks along with Rylee Litchfield, Centennial’s regular goalkeeper. Allen said he went with his gut in choosing Becker for Tuesday’s pressure-packed situation.
“They’re both very capable of stepping into that moment,” he said. “Emmarie was just having a brilliant game, and sometimes your gut tells you to do something and you’ve got to follow it. There’s been times in the postseason runs where my gut has told me something and I’ve denied it, and it’s come back to haunt me. In that situation, having both of them work the PKs and both of them doing well with it, it just felt like Emmarie was the right choice based on how she was playing during the rest of the match.”
Balashaitis had confidence in her teammate as well.
“Emmarie’s a stud,” she said. “She will do anything you ask her to do. She’s amazing.”
This was Centennial’s first shootout of the postseason. During the regular season, games were allowed to finish in a tie rather than go to overtime.
“That’s a new thing I’ve been doing in practice with Rylee,” Becker said. “I think we just really honed in a lot on it the last couple of practices. We did so many of them that I feel like I know everyone’s (tendencies) now. It’s so much fun. I had no doubt in my team. We practiced so hard for this, and we all wanted it so bad. I’m so proud of everyone and so happy for everyone.”
Each team scored a pair of goals in the second half. After Johnston took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Kate Strickler in the 42nd minute, the Jaguars got an equalizer less than 3 minutes later.
“It was a free kick,” said Balashaitis. “It kind of just bounced around and fell to me, and I just hit it and I was like, ‘It’s in!'”
With about 15 minutes left, the Dragons (10-4-4) regained a 2-1 advantage on a goal by Lydia Luo. Luo took a pass in transition, beat a defender, and then took a touch around Litchfield to create an open net.
Centennial didn’t have a lot of time to respond, but it got the goal it needed at the 71:46 mark. A corner kick by Olivia Kroska traveled through the box to Becker, who tucked it home.
“The previous corner that we had, it went through and I wasn’t there on the back post, which was my bad,” Becker said. “But then the next one, I had to get to the back post and it did the same thing and went through everyone. I was there to poke it in. I didn’t have to do anything special.”
Both teams had some chances to score prior to the shootout. Litchfield made a leaping save with about 4 minutes left in regulation to keep the game tied.
The Jaguars (15-3-2) eventually prevailed, earning a trip to the semifinals for the first time since they won the Class 3A title in 2022.
“It feels so good,” said Balashaitis, whose team lost to Waukee Northwest in a shootout in last year’s quarterfinals. “I don’t think I’m here right now mentally, but it’s good.”
Centennial will advance to play No. 7 Linn-Mar (Marion) (16-3) on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. on Field 2. The Lions stunned No. 2 Valley, 3-0, on Tuesday, avenging an earlier 4-0 defeat.
Abi Roberts had two goals and an assist in the win, while Aubrey Luck added a goal and two assists. Roberts has 40 goals and 17 assists on the season, both of which rank second in Class 3A.
“Abi is a great player, so we’ll have to make sure we get on her,” Becker said.
No. 1 Northwest (13-1-2) will face No. 4 Waukee (10-1-6) in the other semifinal at 5 p.m. on Field 1. The two winners will meet in Saturday’s championship game at 2:30 p.m. at the Cyclone Sports Complex.
